In 2002, Marcelle Halpern, an 87-year-old wealthy Frenchwoman, lived in New York, with her 88-year-old husband, Dr. Mark Halpern. His son Matteo, had been in Europe for a couple of years, but the Halperns asked Matteo to come back and help them over some very serious legal problems they had.

Matteo came back at once, and became fully involved in managing his parents affairs, except for their finances, which were run by their old friend, well-known patron of the arts Walter Scheuer. Mr. Scheuer employed an accountant, as market trader and manager. Mr. Scheuer fired the Accountant. Mr. Scheuer had a stroke; now he needed a sharp trader, and hired the Accountant once again. In September 2004, Mr. Scheuer died and Dr. Halpern became ill. The Accountant then began to often visit the Halperns.

By then, Marcelle suffered from dementia. Matteo, visited once a week from his upstate farm, five hours a way. He knew his parents were well cared for, since their trusted helpers since the 1960’s, Roger and Jeannine Mahé, were there almost every day. When he saw the need, Matteo hired nurse aides for both of his parents. Soon the Halperns had nurse aides caring for them day and night. His parents seemed to be very well cared for, and received regular medical visits. What Matteo did not know was that the Accountant had made appropriate arrangements: the doctor came, but did not see Marcelle. By the fall of 2004, she had become quite confused; by February 2005, she had forgotten that she had a house in Paris; she could not recognize the names of any of her friends; by May, Marcelle could not walk on her own any more.

On May 27, 2005, the Accountant secretly brought a piece of paper, and the Halperns signed it, as they had signed papers brought to them by Scheuer employees, for almost 50 years. It was a $20,000 per month retroactive contract, putting the Accountant in charge of their lives.

Only after they had fallen into his hands, did the Accountant allow Marcelle to see a doctor, who confirmed that she was suffering from dementia. Soon the Accountant organized a campaign against the Mahés; they were forced to resign.

The Accountant isolated Marcelle from her husband; to get control of the Halpern estate, he had to arrange for Dr. Mark Halpern to die before Marcelle. His death was arranged by denial of medical care, in spite of repeated emergency calls by nurse aides. Five days later, the Accountant dramatically announced a poisoning: Matteo had switched his mother’s medications to kill his stepmother, and she was so ill, that she could not get up. To Matteo and Marina, both of whom now lived at Marcelle’s apartment, she seemed fine; they waited for the doctor and the police to arrive. Neither came.

To cut Marcelle off from Matteo and Marina, the Accountant hired guards, to triple the take of his dear friend Mr. Kelly, to $60,000 per month--$20,000 in profits, without counting kickbacks. That’s what friends are for: you make them wealthy, and they will gratefully share the wealth, of course. Marcelle was shut in her bedroom, kept in bed for 16-20 hours a day--although she still could walk if supported. Matteo applied to be her guardian.

Arrangements were made between the Accountant’s very important attorney and two unimportant court-appointed attorneys. To get some very valuable favors, the court attorneys ignored all evidence of deadly denial of medical care to Dr. Halpern; of deception of Marcelle’s doctors; of fraud; of perjury; of witness tampering. One of the two court attorneys reported to the judge that Matteo’s videos, which showed some offensive psychological abuse of Marcelle, were not “sufficiently compelling of further mention”. The judge did not bother to check.

“Macaroni & cheese” replaced fresh fruits, disco replaced classical music. Denied her magnificent country homes and the company of family or pets, Marcelle was brought to ask for death every day, to free her from a life of isolation, humiliation, and boredom. The Accountant kept her prisoner. Against nurses’ written advice, he imposed harmful over-the-counter medicines and a damaging diet; her food was, twice to four times a week, so disgusting as to make her miss dinner--or vomit. She kept losing weight, but was fed diet food and diet drinks. A physical therapist had ordered daily exercise sessions for Marcelle. The Accountant told the aides to ignore that order.

To keep control of Marcelle’s medical records, the Accountant refused to allow her the level of medical care she could well afford; instead, he chose a good medical service for the poor, which almost always sent a new doctor, often accompanied by medical students. That way, the Accountant could give doctors false information to keep Marcelle on medications he knew had negative effects. The doctors, he tried to control by telling them that Matteo would sue them for malpractice; the nurse aides, he tried to control by telling them that Matteo was accusing them of abusing Marcelle.

Millions disappeared. Real estate discount sales and side deals were organized, to the loss of Marcelle. By 2010, ten crooked attorneys, all paid by Marcelle, labored to keep her in the clutches of the Accountant. They liberally lied in court. Daring perjury was their strategy--for New York judges, they even presented fake court decisions, attributed to judges in other courts; for French judges, they went as far as swearing, in 2010, that Marcelle “had no family left” and that she was “still today in possession of her faculties.”

It was a heart-warming example of international humanitarian cooperation, to observe a French lawyer pass falsifications to a Belgian lawyer for delivery to an American lawyer. Apparently, important legal firms, such as the firms of Mr. Harvey Corn, Esq. in New York, or Maître Olivier Jessel in Paris, in recognition of their eminence, have received license to commit perjury.

Matteo was named guardian, but the fix was in, and he was at once sidelined by his co-guardian, politically important attorney Lenore Kramer. In collaboration with the Accountant, Ms. Kramer, in anguish, repeated the Accountant’s charges of February 6, 2008, accusing Matteo of making one think that he thought of poisoning his mother. By that trick, while the judge considered her imaginary evidence, Ms. Kramer took over control of Marcelle’s life. Matteo remained guardian, but lost all access to a lady who then believed Matteo was her son. So Marcelle was cut off from her family and her doctors. Ms. Kramer simply ignored critical doctors' and nutritionists' advisories and just fired Marcelle’s doctors and nurses; within weeks, Marcelle began to weaken and to develop infections.

Upon the publication of this website, con men and lawyers saw the need to collaborate and eliminate the threat of press interest. The Halpern Case needed closure, and Marcelle was rapidly disposed of, by informal withholding of medical care, food, drink, medications. Her heirs were robbed, and had to file criminal charges with prosecutors and tax authorities in France--see www.elderabuse.co

Voilà the Accountant’s Most Valuable Friend, Mr. Jerome Kelly, competent organizer of false witness. Nurses and nurse aides were bilked out of $500,000. How could he fail to share his take with the Accountant? He billed Marcelle a couple of millions in unnecessary nursing services. After the death of Marcelle, he disappeared.